July 31. Saturday Surprise.

Woke this morning to the beep-beep-beep of the smoke detector. No smoke. Battery is almost dead. But will be checking every hour or so to make sure. 

Was 44 degrees when I fed the outside kitties and tried to walk Bandit (he didn't want to go). Pretty cold for this time of year. Came home and crawled back in bed.

Mowed the lawn yesterday. The tracker on my phone recorded three miles of walking. 

Was such a nice day I took Bandit for a hike on Hidden Valley Trail near Gilbert Reservoir. Was pretty. We'll go there again once I find out how long it is. As it was, we cut off after about a mile and took a logging road back to the main road. Not sure how far we walked because there was no cell service.

Picked up fresh corn at the Lewis Run farmers market. It was fabulous! Got a roll and whoopie  pie (which were horrible) and some sugar free peanut butter cups (which were ok). Bought a couple burgers from the firemen too.

Throat still sore. Not good.

July 30. Friday Fun.

Have been under the weather the last few days. Sore throat and ears. No fever though, so it's probably not strep. Could do without the trots. Will go to the doctor Monday if there's no improvement.

Managed brief cleaning stints in the shed. Planted more beets and green beans. Am going to have to move the eggplants. The cucumbers are crowding them out. Finally have a baby pumpkin on those vines. 

Not sure I have the energy, but the lawn has to get mowed today. Have to pick up a Wal-Mart order today too. All I want to do is sleep.

Guess I'll make a pot of coffee and do some chores.

July 27. Two-fer Tuesday.

Fifty four degrees this morning with a predicted high of 83. The grass is so full of dew I had to roll my pants up above my ankles or they would have been dripping water. 

Pulled three cucumbers from the garden yesterday and one this morning. Picked five more summer squash. Finally added some fertilizer to the zucchini and tomato beds. Probably should have put in the summer squash beds too, but really don't need more squash.

Moved the lattice board from the side of the shed to the west side of the garden behind the new cloth bed. It looks lovely there. Lettuce in the new bed has sprouted as have a couple of the beets. Have to plant more radishes and decide what to put in the left side of the planter. Probably more beets.

The asparagus is lovely.

Sorted through more stuff in the shed. One more big box to go through of my stuff. Hope to be able to throw a bunch away. Already started looking around the house at potential yard sale stuff.

July 26. Muggy Monday.

Garbage out. Garden uncovered. Animals fed. Bandit walked. Vacuum run. 

Glanced next door while opening the garden and saw their tomatoes don't have leaves anymore. Therefore I will continue covering mine at night.

Turned the motion sensor light on last night when I covered the garden. Was pleased to see it work.

Worked on the shed again yesterday. Whittled down the "save" pile considerably. Sorted through a lot of the Stampin' Up supplies. Will probably work on it some more today.

Scrubs are clean and in a bag waiting to be given away. 

Gonna have a slice of banana bread and some cantaloupe for breakfast. Feeling rather stuffed up right now. From breathing in all the dust and who knows what else while in the shed. This too shall pass, eh?

July 25. Sunday, A Typical Day of Rest.

Rest is mostly what's going to happen. No heavy chores today. Am staying out of the shed unless I go out there to listen to music. Yes, the phonograph is hooked up. Forgot to release the locks under the table, so was unable to insert the leaves. Table is too heavy for me to lift by myself without damaging it. Moved the bulletin board. Hung a couple pictures. 

Have to wash my old scrubs. Am going to ask Mary if she knows anyone who can use them.

It's a few minutes after six. The animals have been fed, garden opened and I'm sipping my first cup of coffee. Sky looks like rain again today; weatherman says only a twenty four percent chance of precipitation. You can feel the moisture in the air. (Phil Collins, can you feel it?)

Mosquitoes were rather thick and hungry over by the garden. Will have to search out standing water sources.

Gotta do some baking today. Zucchini bread, banana bread and squash casserole. Was too hot to run the oven for an hour or two when I tired of the shed yesterday afternoon. Put it off until today. Might just make banana bread and put off the zucchini bread until a cooler day.

Hooked up the new WiFi router. If I can get the desk moved I'll hook the security cameras back up. 

Coffee tastes delicious today and I'd love to have another cup, but Bandit needs his walk. 

It's gonna be a great day.

July 24. Saturday Baking.

Ahhh. That first sip of coffee in the morning sure is nice.

Worked in the shed for several hours yesterday. It's still quite messy, but I got a lot accomplished. The good news is I found two working tower fans, so I can take a fan off my need to purchase list.

Am going to have to make some banana bread and maybe zucchini bread today. Also the squash casserole I bought supplies for. Sure do hate wasting food. Not sure I want to start that this morning or wait until the afternoon. Probably the afternoon.

Splurged and bought a pulled pork sandwich from one of the Friday fire hall market vendors. Bought a bee balm plant as well.

Chatted with Nancy (beagle pups mom) for a bit on our afternoon walk. She seems really nice.

Julie and Tim were out with their pups and we went to the ball park together so the dogs could play together. Bandit loves their dogs, Mishka and Sierra. They gave him quite the workout.

It's 6:30, so I guess I better throw on some blue jeans and take Bandit for a walk. The garden is already uncovered and animals are fed. Forgot to mention that Kiki was here yesterday. He looks like he's been eating better than when he was here last. Good to see.

Later tater!

July 23. Fun Friday.

Yesterday was busy. After hanging out the wash, I worked on the shed a bit. Moved the broken vacuum, fan and freezer out to the road. Swept the floor and moved a couple things around. No rain today, so I'll be back at it as soon as I finish a couple cups of coffee.

Picked up a couple bags of chopped straw and laid most of it in the garden on top of newspaper and cardboard. Put it on the north side of the garden by where the mint is planted. The goal is to not have to mow or weed wack. Was a lot of work. 

Stopped at TOPS and picked up cheese for squash casserole and a couple things they had on sale. 

Bandit and I went to the spring and filled nine gallons of water. Our usual number  cause that's what fits on the passenger side floor. Have to unload it before it leaks all over the floor. The plastic jugs last quite a while, but do get holes in them from use. 

Burned a bunch of paper garbage also.

Warmer this morning. Fifty three with an anticipated high of seventy three. High humidity again. 90%. 

Time to put on some work clothes and get this party started.